Imagine a cage fight between the two masters of extreme fitness. Nobody out there right now is pushing the fitness envelope like these two men. Nobody has accrued the kind of reputations that Tony and Shaun have. If you ask anybody about what exercise program will push them beyond their max, inevitably you’ll be told either P90X or INSANITY. There really is nobody else when it comes to that level of extremity. So take the two paragons of ultimate fitness, the two masters of pain and determination, drop them in a cage fight, and ask yourself—you would win?

Let’s examine their strengths. Tony Horton is the King of P90X. He’s dominated the infomercial channels since forever due to one simple reason: his P90X works. It gets you extreme results, from definition to enhanced mass, muscle size and power. Combining free weights and intense workout sessions for three months, tempered by yoga, kempo, stretching and extreme core work means he’s one ripped and powerful dude. He’s got both strength and power, which is the ability to generate force at explosive speeds. In a word: lethal.

But what of Shaun T? While his INSANITY workout does not include free weights, it involves truly punishing levels of high level cardio. He can go forever at what would be unsustainable levels of activity for anybody except a Green Beret. He can perform absurd amounts of plyometrics and calisthenics, maintaining a high burn that would shatter lesser individuals. And seriously, check out those abs. They belong on some sort of primordial reptile, not a normal human. His core is corrugated iron, it’s almost ridiculously sculpted and ripped. If there’s one thing this man has, it’s staying power, flexibility and inner strength.

So who would win in a fight? Hard to say. Tony’s got that Kempo action working for him, a combination of strikes and blows that with his power would be devastating if they landed. However, Shaun T has that ability to launch a flurry of blows so fast that they eye can’t track them. Check out his moves in any of his Max exercises for the second half of his INSANITY workout and you’ll see what I mean. He gets down into those squats so you just know his thighs are killing him, screaming and snarling in white hot pain, and then unleashes his punches, whether its jabs or hooks, and they come so fast that you know you wouldn’t be able to block them.

Tony Horton and his P90X system develop your power and strength. Shaun T and his INSANITY workout develop your cardio engine and staying power. If Tony failed to drop Shaun quick, I think he’d get overpowered. Shaun would be able to sustain such a high level of intensity, such a barrage of nonstop blows that I think Tony would get overwhelmed. The key to Tony’s success would be to strike fast and hard and drop Shaun before he could even get warmed up.

Now, in reality, we know that both of these gentlemen are incredibly generous, caring trainers—there’s no aggression in either of them, other than that iron determination to see each workout through to itsp painful ending. The thought of them fighting is ridiculous when you consider how professional, respectful and positive they both are. If anything, they’d get into a competition to see who could do the most push-ups. And who would win that? Man, would I love to know!